Online gambling is a highly prevalent activity across Europe. While most people who gamble online use legal and regulated websites, a sizeable proportion of people who gamble online use offshore gambling websites. For instance, in 2023, it was estimated that 13% of online gambling in Europe came from offshore gambling. Offshore gambling can be broadly defined as gambling online using a website that is housed in another country and not regulated in the jurisdiction where the person who gambles resides. In Europe, the top offshore market is Malta.

A regulatory measure to prevent and reduce gambling harm that is often used in Europe is mandatory user identification. Mandatory player identification requires people to create an account and verify their identity (e.g., through an official ID, player card, or digital identification) before they can gamble at a venue or online. The creation of an account allows people to set their personal monetary limits for losses or deposits over a specified period.

Many public health initiatives aim to raise awareness of gambling-related harms to encourage less risky gambling behaviour. These initiatives are informed by the idea that people are more likely to change a risky health behaviour when they see its consequences as serious and themselves as vulnerable to the threat.

Real-world gambling behavioural data can be a very useful tool for identifying people at risk of problem gambling (PG) and associated harms. These types of datasets are normally obtained from online gambling platforms or electronic gambling machines in land-based venues.

Gambling can cause harm related to finances, physical health, mental health, employment, and relationships. Members of the Armed Forces, including currently serving and ex-service personnel, are at higher risk of gambling-related harm because of service-related stressors. Yet, many do not seek help due to reasons like stigma, shame, and fear of dismissal. It is important to understand the lived experiences of veterans and their family members who are impacted by gambling-related harm. The purpose of this study was to examine gambling trajectories, motivations, and support-seeking behaviours among UK Armed Forces veterans and family members.

In this study, the researchers tested whether gambling inducements influence sports betting behaviour in young men under 40 years of age. They also tested whether gambling inducements can lead people to make more decision making errors when gambling (i.e., choose bets with low odds).